Summit Drive Church

Jesus’ parable of “The Unforgiving Servant” addresses the common human problem with forgiveness. Jesus teaches that his kingdom was to be marked by being forgiven and offering forgiveness. In this talk, we look at what forgiveness is and what it isn’t, and apply the test of forgiveness that Jesus lays out for us.

Jesus’ parable of “The Prodigal Son” (which should probably be called something like “the two lost sons”) is probably the most well-known, and well-loved of all his parables – and for good reason. In it, we see God’s heart of compassion, we see ourselves and the true nature of humanity, and we hear an invitation to come home, come to the feast, and to join God’s pursuit of those who are lost. It b...

Anxiety is a common human problem, and one of the most common forms of anxiety is money. In the parable of the rich fool, and the teaching that follows, Jesus shows us that trusting in God's provision frees us from worry and helps us to make generosity a habit.

This week, we're looking at Luke 16:19-31, where Jesus tells the parable of "The Rich Man and Lazarus," and how the fierce love and justice of Jesus are both found in this beautiful and alarming parable.

In Matthew 13, Jesus gives us these parables, these “portraits of the kingdom,” to confront our false expectations and help us reimagine what the kingdom of heaven is really like and how it is coming. Why? To get us on board with God and his ways.

This week, we will explore Jesus' parable of the weeds and the wheat and the question, "Why does evil persist?" We'll see that God graciously allows good and evil to grow together until Jesus' return so that as many as possible can be saved. Then, we will be invited to shift our identity from those who 'pull weeds' to those who 'sow seeds.'

This week, we explore how our actions speak louder than our words as we look at the Parable of the Two Sons in Matthew 21. We will see that there is "work" to be done but that the "work" has to do with enjoying and glorifying God.

As we begin our series on the Parables of Jesus, the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4) introduces us to the fact that parables are not cute stories, meant to simplify complex spiritual ideas, but they perplex. They subvert. They get behind our defences and gives us a new imagination for seeing the realities of God’s kingdom. In this parable, we see how Jesus is deeply concerned about our commitment to...

This week, we finish Ephesians by exploring the armour of God. We will discuss the realities of evil spirits in some technical detail and then see how, for most of us, most of the time, our spiritual warfare is what we have come to see as normal Christian discipleship.

Paul describes the reality of a spiritual struggle against spiritual opponents, which is not often how we envision the world. This text opens us up to see more clearly that the nature of reality, our true opponents, the real struggle, and finally, how to be equipped to “stand” firm.

This week, we continue our look at Paul's household codes and approach some lessons for how we can be spirit-filled in our family and working relationships.

The Spirit is the power we need to fuel the Christian community to live in a revolutionary way: to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Over the next two weeks, we’ll see how Paul offers a revolutionary word on how that kind of mutual submission works within a household. This week, we’ll key in on Christian marriage.

As we look at Ephesians 5: 7-21, we see how Paul uses this powerful metaphor of how Jesus’ followers are light in the Lord and that our missional call is to essentially “leave the light on,” that in the power and filling of the Spirit, our lives illuminate the darkness and bring more and more people to the light.

In Ephesians 5: 1-6, Paul is defining the culture of the Kingdom. We see in this text that the contours of the Kingdom name both positive features to embody, and negative ones to avoid. At the heart, Paul makes the staggering claim that we are to be “imitators of God,” which is only made possible because we are already God’s “beloved children.”

This week, we explore the things that grieve the Holy Spirit of God and tear us apart: lying, anger, stealing, foul speech, and malice. We learn that Christianity is not just a 'what' but a 'how.'

In Ephesians 4: 17-24, we are called to put off the old way of life, like taking off a set of dirty clothes, to put on a whole new way of life. We have “learned Christ” and, in him, we are being renewed and created anew to be like God.

In the second half of Ephesians, chapters 4-6, Paul now shifts from the vast and sweeping wonder of the gospel (chapters 1-3) to say, “Now here’s how you walk this out in the everyday realities of life.” And this starts with our unity, diversity, and growth into Christ-like maturity.

We explore Paul's famous prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21, calling us into a life where we participate in God's loving power, are strengthened in our inner person, live in a world where, with the Father, there is immeasurably more than we need, and are invited to see God's love as something we do together with all of the Lord's Holy People.

In Ephesians 3:1-13, Paul offers us insight into his own sense of passion for Jesus, his new identity as a prisoner of Jesus, and his newfound, mission-shaped purpose. In each case, Paul becomes an example for us to follow as we gain a passion for the gospel, an identity as those joyfully captive to Jesus, and caught up in our unique calling.

Today, we look at how the gospel message destroys the barrier that once divided Jew and Gentile, and how it continues to destroy the barriers that divide people across racial and ethnic lines today. Through Christ's work, God creates a new, multicultural, one people of God, and Jesus now invites us into active peacemaking in our world.

The Good News of the Gospel includes reckoning with the “bad news” of where we’ve come from – not to shame us, but to highlight the beauty and richness of God’s love and mercy. In Ephesians 2:1-10 we see how God’s grace brings us alive to God and all he has for us to walk in.

This Easter Sunday, we will look at Jesus' proclamation that 'it is finished,' and then explore how that encourages us to not be afraid and lets us know we have all we need.

Paul not only preaches the gospel, he prays it into the lives of believers, and we see that beautifully in our text from this week: Ephesians 1:15-23. We’ll see how we share in the life of God and can approach God for what we need the most: a clear vision of his glory and the power to live in sync with reality.

Paul leads us into worship with this rich description of the incredible riches of who we are in Christ. As we join with Paul in praise of the Father, we’ll take a tour that shows us our True Location, Our True Identity, Our True Riches, and Our True Hope.

This week, Pastor Ricky summarizes the book of Ephesians. A book that teaches us about reality—the reality that the earth is moved by things we can't see, can't fully understand, and can't control. And that the most important of those realities is the outrageous, generous, and abundant love of God.